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A-Ha

MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice

In the land of the midnight sun, the clocks tick slightly different than they do elsewhere. This is especially true during the summer solstice, when the sun hardly sets at all, bathing the small Norwegian island of Giske - where a-ha played their first ever two acoustic concerts - in an eerie twilight.

Giske is a tiny island in close proximity to the city of Ålesund on the shore of the North Atlantic Ocean - a popular city much frequented by day trippers arriving on huge cruise ships during Norway's short yet intense summer season. But a-ha's audience didn't get to Giske on such boats. Coming from destinations all over the world, for them getting to Giske meant embarking on a plane to Oslo and from there to Ålesund. And from there you finally have to drive through a series of seemingly endless and frighteningly deep undersea tunnels to reach Giske, an island so beautiful and, well, remote, that one immediately wonders why a-ha handpicked this specific location to play their long awaited first MTV Unplugged shows on the night of the 2017 summer solstice, right where the world seems to end.

Pål Waaktaar-Savoy: "Choosing Giske is like most of the things we do: It's been 50% chance and 50% planned. We were discussing many different places to play these special shows - among them Manaus in the Amazon jungle, Berlin, London and New York. At the end of the day it was the Ocean Sound Recordings studio in Giske that made the difference. We knew that we could rehearse undisturbed in an extremely good sounding facility."

a-ha booked the Ocean Sound Recordings studio, which looks out onto the ocean, to revisit their own back catalogue for two weeks together with producer Lars Horntveth, who had already been working on the acoustic arrangements for more than half a year. The nearby Øygardshallen (Giske Harbour Hall) turned out to be the perfect venue to stage their two first ever acoustic shows: They simply had to lay cables from A to B and then were able to use the studio at Ocean Sound Recordings to capture the shows perfectly. a-ha performed in front of an audience of just 250 people - the Øygardshallen's glass front allowed the audience to gaze out into the pale night and onto a number of LED video steles that had been set up behind the band, serving as a minimalist backdrop to the concert. Suffice to say, the concerts were sold-out within minutes, as a-ha were to play "concerts so close to our audience like never before". As Magne Furuholmen puts it: "These were by far the most intimate concerts we've ever given."

Yet the beauty of the North Atlantic Ocean, the light of the midnight sun and the exclusivity of the concerts are only one half of the story. The other half is that the idea of a-ha playing their vast catalogue of world hits stripped down to their very essence is indeed a promising endeavor.

Pål: "We've talked about this idea for so many years. And in many of our concerts we've also played some acoustic songs. But if you consider that we don't use much technology at all when we write the songs, the idea an entirely acoustic show makes total sense. Playing all these songs now in their acoustic versions is like returning to their origins."

Magne expands the thought in a more universal direction: "Most of our songs draw inspiration from a childhood directly exposed to Norwegian culture, even the folk music tradition, perhaps more so than we thought. We were constantly faced with questions from journalists implying how our 'Norwgian-ness' was a unique part of our sound, even though we lived and worked in London.

As a creative person it is almost easier to tap into this nordic mindest from a distance. History is full of good examples of how iconic Norwegians in the past did their best work away from home; The writer Henrik Ibsen wrote on universal topics with a strong Norwegian tone while living in Italy, Edvard Munch's melancholic force defined expressionism while living in Berlin - yet he simply couldn't be from anywhere but this country. And of course there is Edvard Grieg, who took a lot of inspiration directly from folk music. His music always felt particularly resonant in our ears growing up. With such strong figures and influences defining what it is to be a Norwegian, it becomes part of what you are. Our darker, melancholic streak definitely harks back to these early influences. We feel connected to all that, which is why we thought returning home for this project was a very natural step.

Morten Harket stresses the fact how crucial it was to have arranger/producer Lars Horntveth on board as a catalyst and fearlessly driving force behind the scenes: "He confronted our music by presenting completely new arrangements, also taking out 'untouchable' parts, which easily came across as being disrespectful. I say this as a compliment, by the way... And of course we hated it! But we also needed it! This was exactly what we had asked of him. We needed someone who would boldly question everything that we stood for as a band - someone who could stand up to us. Of course it led to shouting matches. It's part of the creative process. Lars deserves the credit for bringing the band closer together than we have been for a very long time."

For the MTV Unplugged shows, a-ha played 17 songs in completely new arrangements as well as two new songs and two cover versions on vintage acoustic instruments, accompanied by a backing band featuring Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums, Even Ormestad on acoustic bass, Morten Qvenild on piano and various acoustic keyboards, Lars Horntveth on multiple instruments and Madeleine Ossum on violin and vocals, Tove Margrethe Erikstad on cello and Emilie Heldal Lidsheim on viola and backing vocals. Furthermore, a total of four guest stars served as duet partners for Morten Harket. Most notably, Echo & The Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch had been invited by Magne Furuholmen to sing "Scoundrel Days" and Ian's very own "The Killing Moon" on the first of the two shows. On the second night, a-ha were joined by Alison Moyet of Yazoo fame to duet with Morten on "Summer Moved On". Highasakite's Ingrid Helene Håvik guested on "The Sun Always Shines on TV" on both nights, while, last but not least, American singer Lissie did the same on "I've Been Losing You".

"In the cacophonic world of popular music, with its high-impact effects and productions, the music is often somewhat lost as it ends up being premeditated." Morten Harket addresses the subject of subtlety: "The world of pop is a world where everything always has to be more than anything else."

Attending the concerts and the last full day of the rehearsals, you could tell that the whole group and especially Morten did indeed try to reveal the soul of each and every song performed. During the last run-through on the day before the first night the band took things extremely seriously. Songs were started, stopped and deconstructed. Discussions between Morten and the group as well as with the recording engineers dealt with the tiniest details of sound, cohesiveness and attitude. As a result, the two shows benefited profoundly, both in terms of microstructure (the new arrangements reveal so much of the songs' essences), as well as in that the overall dramaturgic arc of the concerts, which steadily built towards a climax that would astound even the most dedicated follower of the group. During the encore, a-ha would play - "as usual" - their first and biggest hit to date, "Take On Me". But an unexpected chord change in the chorus and the skeletal arrangement not only allowed a new perspective on the song's lyrics, it also left the audience with tears in their eyes.

Magne: "When you rearrange songs for an acoustic rendition it is also an opportunity to do more than to just simplify them. I especially like what happened when we took a fresh look at Take on me, which went from being an uptempo syntheziser-driven popsong to a much more melancholic, yearning ballad in this slowed down arrangement, it shows with much more clarity how the song at its core is not some standalone upbeat track, but belongs squarely inside our catalogue alongside more thoughtful, darker songs like scoundrel days etc.

There are only a few bands in the world who can look back on similarly close ties with the music channel MTV as a-ha. Alongside the likes of Duran Duran and Yello, in 1985 a-ha were worldwide pioneers who immediately understood the power of the music video as both a narrative and commercial tool. Steve Barron's classic "Take On Me" clip is still a milestone of music video and in 2003 was voted by the MTV audience as one of the top ten best videos ever made. There have long been efforts by a-ha and MTV to organize an Unplugged concert.

The fact that the two MTV Unplugged concerts in June 2017 actually took place on Giske also left a deep impression on a-ha themselves. Like every other band that has been successful on a worldwide scale for over three decades, a-ha have had their share of problems, split-ups and re-unifications. A thoughtful Magne reflects: "After such a long time, a-ha have now become a band that simply continues from project to project. This turned out to be a very healthy approach for the three of us, because going acoustic also had the taste of a new project."

Pål: "When we recorded our last few albums, we were sometimes working pretty isolated from each other. We should do this again - sitting and recording in the same room together for a couple of weeks or months and see what comes out as a result. We may argue about a lot of things, but we are also a band that has very close ties."

After the closing applause that seemed would never end, the band left the stage and walked out of Øygardshallen into the living daylights. Having performed two triumphant concerts together, the three band mates climbed into three separate vehicles and headed off into the sunlit night. But everybody in the audience had a feeling that a-ha had now just opened a brand new chapter in their unparalleled career. To quote a line from one of the highlights of these unplugged shows: "Cause I've been told / Stay on these roads / We shall meet, I know."

Hunting High And Low

Hunting High and Low is the debut studio album by the Norwegian new wave band A-ha. Originally released on 1 June 1985, the album was a huge commercial success selling more than 10 million units worldwide, peaking at number fifteen on the US Billboard 200 and reaching high positions on charts worldwide. The album was recorded at Eel Pie Studios in Twickenham, produced by Tony Mansfield, John Ratcliff and Alan Tarney.

1. Take On Me 2. Train Of Thought3. Hunting High And Low4. The Blue Sky5. Living A Boy's Adventure Tale6. The Sun Always Shines On T.V.7. And You Tell Me8. Love Is Reason9. I Dream Myself Alive10. Here I Stand And Face The Rain

"In the same class as a cartridge costing 10x the price." - TNT Audio (Italy)

Hana EH and EL moving coil cartridges represent the best way to upgrade from "starter" cartridges that typically come packaged with turntables. Weighing in at only 5 grams, and possessing great tracking ability, the Hana EL and EH cartridges feature a distinctive moss green body which houses a sophisticated generator with an aluminum cantilever, and synthetic elliptical stylus.

Hana cartridges by Excel represent the best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. Hana has excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their "musical magic" regardless of their phono stage pairing.

Hana

$475.00

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Aha Shake Heartbreak

Now Available on Remastered 180 Gram Gatefold Double LP

Nomadic Southern evangelist Leon Followill may take soap suds to the mouths of the kinfolk wunderkinds--his three sons and a nephew--in Tennessee quartet Kings of Leon, whose second album spins enough cuss phrases and sexual allusions to leave Dolly Parton flushed. But the peculiar 20-something longhairs also fuel up on a filthy shotgun bass and relentless guitar riffs, complementing the delightfully discordant drawl of vocalist Caleb Followill to whittle a 35-minute grab bag of garage rock, English blues, sixties psychedelia, London Calling-ska, spaced-out country waltzes and front-porch, red-state revelry. Without revising its 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood, producer Ethan Johns (The Jayhawks, Ray LaMontagne) steers the band down a similar mischievous road, integrating poles-apart rhythms and techniques into an energized jumble of rotating tempos and lyrical bombshells. Putting faith in earth-shakers like 'Velvet Snow' and 'Pistol Of Fire,' the wound down and pleasing 'Milk' and its yodeling cousin 'Day Old Blues,' the Kings of Leon ultimately escape Preacher Leons retribution, rendering him speechless--save for a simple 'amen.'

LP 11. Slow Night, So Long2. King Of The Rodeo3. Taper Jean Girl4. Pistol Of Fire5. Milk6. The Bucket

"In the same class as a cartridge costing 10x the price." - TNT Audio (Italy)

Hana EH and EL moving coil cartridges represent the best way to upgrade from "starter" cartridges that typically come packaged with turntables. Weighing in at only 5 grams, and possessing great tracking ability, the Hana EL and EH cartridges feature a distinctive moss green body which houses a sophisticated generator with an aluminum cantilever, and synthetic elliptical stylus.

Hana cartridges by Excel represent the best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. Hana has excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their "musical magic" regardless of their phono stage pairing.

"In the same class as a cartridge costing 10x the price." - TNT Audio (Italy)

The Hana SL and SH models, distinguished by their black body, provide tighter channel balance, greater channel separation, and improved high-frequency extension compared to their EH and EL counterparts. The SL and SH models also feature an upgraded Shibata stylus.

Hana cartridges by Excel represent the best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. Hana has excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their "musical magic" regardless of their phono stage pairing.

"In the same class as a cartridge costing 10x the price." - TNT Audio (Italy)

The Hana SL and SH models, distinguished by their black body, provide tighter channel balance, greater channel separation, and improved high-frequency extension compared to their EH and EL counterparts. The SL and SH models also feature an upgraded Shibata stylus.

Hana cartridges by Excel represent the best materials, including alnico magnets, cross-shaped armatures, and proprietary manufacturing processes. Hana has excelled at creating MC cartridges noted worldwide for their sound and value, which retain their "musical magic" regardless of their phono stage pairing.

Black Soul Choir

Norway's WOLVES LIKE US return triumphant with their new album "Black Soul Choir," the follow-up to their acclaimed 2011 debut "Late Love," which is scheduled for release in North America in 2014.

Widely hailed across Europe and Scandinavia for their urgent, post-hardcore-fueled mix of alternative rock and punk, WOLVES LIKE US recorded "Black Soul Choir" with producer Mike Hartung - who is well-known for his work in Norway with a diverse array of artists from a-ha to Satyricon - at the famous Propeller Studios in Oslo. The group has toured extensively overseas with the likes of Kvelertak, Swing Kids and label mates Junius, along with appearing at prestigious festivals (OYA, Groezrock).

1. Days Of Ignorance 2. Three Poisons3. Don't Need To Be Forgiven4. A Wish Of Fools5. When Will We Ever Sleep6. Your Word Is Law7. Dig With Your Hands8. Lovescared9. Under10. We Were Blood11. Thanatos Wins Again

The Early Vinyl (Box Set) (Very Limited)

A box set bringing together the bands early albums Youth & Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Because of The Times, and a 4th LP made up of unreleased studio and live tracks picked by the band themselves. Also includes a 20 page booklet and a collectible poster.

Rarely

Now Available on Remastered 180 Gram Gatefold Double LP

Rarities Hand-Picked by the Band

Includes Limited Edition Poster

In the past decade, there have been plenty of bands hawked as the one to save rock music and radio from the doldrums it's sat in for far too long. But few were agreed upon quite like Kings of Leon, whose Southern and blues influences, coupled with some alternative sensibilities and an arena-worthy sound, made them one of the hottest bands in the world of late. And this December, RCA is set to celebrate their path to "hottest band" status with The Early Vinyl, a lavish, seven-LP box set chronicling the first four years of their career.

Features remastered, double-vinyl editions of the band's first three albums, Youth and Young Manhood (2003), Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004) and Because of the Times (2007), as well as Rarely, a bonus LP of studio and live rarities, including four live performances making their debut on any format.

Housed in a beautiful, numbered lift-off box, the set also includes a 20-page book featuring liner notes by Austin Scaggs along with rare art and photos from the band's early years.

LP 11. Slow Night, So Long2. King Of The Rodeo3. Taper Jean Girl4. Pistol Of Fire5. Milk6. The Bucket

All Things Work Together

All Things Work Together is the new and highly anticipated album from Lecrae. The 14 track album balances profound introspection with cunning social critique. Lecrae's affecting reconciliation towards hope rises to the height of his verbal gifts on All Things Work Together. This is an artist in command of both firepower and nuance, fearlessly transforming his message into an uplifting soundtrack of healing-through-pain.

The album includes the previously released hits Blessings featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and the powerful I'll Find You featuring Tori Kelly. Other tracks include the album's insightful opener Always Knew, the prophetic 8:28, and Watchu Mean featuring Reach Records protÉgÉ Aha Gazelle.

On All Things Work Together, Lecrae also enlisted a cast of multiple award winning producers, acclaimed guest artists, and impressive up-and-comers for the diverse effort, including Metro Boomin', who produced the single Hammer Time featuring 1K Phew.

In describing his vision for All Things Work Together, Lecrae explains: It's a journey through chaos and hope and brokenness and blessing. When you're in the middle of the chaos, you can come to realize that it is shaping you, creating endurance. It's knowing that the struggle can bring about a richness in character beyond all wealth. Part of the DNA of this album is the realization that all things do work together to make you into the person that you need to be.

Beyond The Bloodhounds

Adia Victoria spent the last few years writing, recording, touring and performing, while entrenched in the infamous artist R&R world - restaurants and retail work. Day jobs at a laundry list of Nashville it and not so it spots gave the musician lots of people watching time as well as the mental and emotional space to marinate in her art.

Adia blows the social hush-hush lid off the mental and emotional state of a young black woman growing up under the poverty line in the Deep South and all the implications of such. No pretense. No jive. But also, like the writing of Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams, there is plenty of Southern Gothic styled, marrow deep joy.

In a recent feature story, Fader encouraged us to, Meet Adia Victoria, A Poet Making Country Music a Little Creepier. She is found in album cuts like Sea of Sand and Stuck in the South, revealing some of her place-based aha moments. In the latter, she notes, I don't know nothin' about Southern belles/ But I can tell you something about Southern hell. As songs like Head Rot, and first single Dead Eyes show us, Adia says, it's an album of falling in love, dealing with loss, confusion, anger, love, and loving myself.

Produced by Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Sleater Kinney) and the artist herself, recorded at Nashville, Tennessee's Haptown Studios, Beyond the Bloodhounds features the indelible lyrics, voice, and guitar solos of Adia Victoria along with a band of talented musicians including Tiffany Minton (Drums), Alex Caress (keys), Mason Hickman (guitar), and Jason Harris (bass). She recalls, the studio is a Music City treasure. It used to be a car repair shop. You walk in and there are no windows. It's dark and moody. It feels like walking into the mind.

The result of a lifetime of introspection and a younger self marked by silent observation, Adia Victoria's Beyond the Bloodhounds was three active, recording years in the making. The title pays homage to a line in Harriet Jacobs' Narrative in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Ultimately, Victoria's debut album is more both/and, than either/or. The complexity of her Southern, barrel-aged roots and world traveling, bookworm woman ways will lure you out of the status quo.

Publications like American Songwriter, Rookie, and NPR are taking notice.

Now on the brink of her 30s, fluent in the language of her own self, Adia Victoria stands poised to take her place in a line of true artists. Her mother warned that she feels too much and would be torn up by the world. Adia will tell you that proved to be true. I've felt shredded, but I'm now blessed to embrace the intense feelings as part of my job. That's what I do. It's my bread and butter. My art depends on me feeling and experiencing. I show up, live, and come back and say, oooooh Honey, it was like this...

1. I'm With You2. Borderlines And Aliens3. Schoolboy4. Ways To Go5. Shark Attack6. Sit Still7. Hippy Hill8. What I Know9. Didn't Have To Go10. Bitin' The Bullet11. News To Me12. Raspberry13. Save The Party For Me

Jekyll/Hyde

Jekyll / Hyde is the debut EP from Taryn Blake Miller who records under the name Your Friend.Written and recorded over a two year period in her adopted hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, Miller used live performances to develop the songs gradually both as a solo performer as well enlisting the help of a rotating cast of supporters from the town's music community.

Fusing warm atmospheric guitars with a focused and emotionally rich sense of song craft, Your Friend presents a keen balance of experimentation and structure. Momentum carries these creations through dramatic shifts that feel surprising, inevitable and always authentic. Fragmentary and evocative, Miller's lyrics are a collage of details taken from her life as well as her friends and family. Born in her bedroom and developed on stage, Miller describes the record as "deeply personal. For a long time it was hard to play these songs out because they were written for myself."

Miller and co-producer Jordan Geiger (bandleader for Hospital Ships), set out to capture her intimate live energy but with refinements. Though her bare-bones stage show was in high demand, eventually going from playing Lawrence house parties and clubs to opening for national acts who passed through locally, she wanted the songs to be more fleshed out for the record. Bringing in bass, drums and keyboards, as well as layered guitars and vocals, Miller self-released Jekyll/Hyde in August 2013 to an already devoted fan base that quickly multiplied. For the Domino release, Miller ahas added even more depth with freshly recorded live drums and vocals. The result is a captivating debut that sounds fully realized in its ideal form.

When asked for the significance of the name Your Friend, Miller gets to the fundamental core of her music: That there is power in leaving yourself exposed, to trusting a part of yourself with people who don't know you. "I really like the risk in being vulnerable to someone," Miller says. "There's risk in music that way; I feel that at every show. It could go terribly wrong but that's what I thrive on."

Santigold

On Santi White's debut album Santogold, the former music biz A&R and pop songwriter for hire is challenging stereotypes and playing fast and loose with genre, mashing up dub, punk and electronics to make an energetic, anger-fueled music. From the stirring new-wave pop of L.E.S Artistes to the ska-pop numbers You'll Find a Way and Say Aha, Santogold is a wildly eclectic affair that leaves you believing all the hype.

Big Sky Country

From the opening strums of Big Sky Country, the newest album - 6th, overall - from Sweden's Sofia Talvik, you know you're in for an aural pleasure experience. Her sweet, rich and enveloping voice immediately draws you in and the fullness of the songs captures your attention, enhanced by the just-right production. Acoustic-based, melody-built - a fine, fine work. Even though this young lady is from Sweden, I'd place her at the forefront of the American vanguard. One listen will tell you why and how.

"Aha Aha" opens the album and straps you in for the ride down this dusty, sun-setting musical highway; "Big Sky Country" is a melodic and melancholic, near Irish-folk-feel singalong while "Dusty Heart, Empty Hand" is pure Nashville with its pedal steel runs and banjo. "Lullaby" is a sweet, gentle piano based track with interestingly contradictory lyrics (" everything's beautiful - still you wish you were dead "); "A Matter Of The Hearts" is a vocal showcase - you can hear the natural skill in her singing and the feeling she conveys; "Bonfire" is a uptempo acoustic piece (without percussion) that builds with dramatic (yet not overboard) flair. "Fairground" is an acoustic shuffle with beautiful background harmonies and one of the album's standouts; "So" closes out the album in a subdued yet emotional manner.

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone (Out Of Stock)

As one of the world's most respected guitarists in one of rock's most commercially successful bands, John Frusciante seemingly had it all figured out. So when the famed alternative guitar guru opted out of his second stint as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009, many racked their brains for an explanation. But listening to PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, it's clear that Frusciante had an itch that the Peppers couldn't scratch. A record as sprawling, layered, and flat-out bizarre as its title would suggest, reveling instead in an eclectic mix of electronica, funk, free jazz, and krautrock.

The record's break from the Peppers' funk rock formula shouldn't come as a complete surprise to those familiar with Frusciante's past solo efforts, which have always been hard to categorize. Some, like 2004s Ian MacKaye-produced DC EP, keep things on a straight and narrow pop rock path, while others, like 2001s To Record Only Water For Ten Days, are more enigmatic. But even with that caveat, PBX is Frusciante's most challenging and niche effort to date. "Bike", with its Buddy Rich-on-crank drum intro and skittering Pro Tools backbeat, sounds like a sonic freak-out from the year 2036, whereas "Ratisug" works its way back toward center while preserving the record's heavy electronic lean.

The LP is anything but even-keeled, and the music constantly changes course, often within the same song. But with repeated listens, that quickly becomes part of its zonked-out charm. PBX is a record strung out on big, sometimes half-baked ideas and lots of lofty ambition, and fortunately Frusciante has accrued enough good will for listeners to let him off the leash some. It hits (it's hard to listen to the beginning of "Mistakes" without thinking of that A-Ha video from 1987) and it misses ("Uprane?" Good God, what's happening?), but still it keeps the air underneath its wings. If Frusciante had to bail on his Peppers gig to find inspiration, at least the result tickles the eardrums in some unexpected ways.

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